


Unexpected Guest

by Entwinedlove



Series: Twelve Days of Xover Xmas [10]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU - Repealed Statute of Secrecy, Canon Disabled Character, Mentions of Torture and Killing, Multi, Probably Insensitive Handling of canon HP magic in regards to a Disabled Character, References to Acts Committed during Wartime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 22:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17129711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entwinedlove/pseuds/Entwinedlove
Summary: An unexpected guest crashes Christmas at Avengers Tower and steals Stark's moment.





	Unexpected Guest

Steve and Hermione had been invited to celebrate Christmas at Avengers Tower and by extension so had Bucky and Peggy. They took a commercial flight on the twenty-third because they were either idiots or—no, they were just idiots.

Bucky was staring at the plane ceiling and counting back from a hundred. When the turbulence had started, Hermione had turned white and then green, and was now leaning forward holding one of the fancy barf bags. Peggy was rubbing her back but had her other hand holding her book in her lap. She looked a little pale as well. Steve, the punk, didn't seem to be affected and was watching the onboard Christmas movie with a little smile on his face.

The plane had kids on it and they were noisy, especially so when the turbulence ramped up.

Bucky felt his stomach flip and he swallowed the excess saliva pooling in his mouth. "Can Muggles use Portkeys? I think you should start a business making Portkeys more widely used," he muttered.

He heard the slightest snort and giggle from the woman on his right and smiled. He liked making her laugh. Bucky let his gaze drop from the ceiling to the television. He'd already missed the first half of the thing and it was almost time to land, so they'd miss the end too. He wasn't interested in just watching part of a movie.

Finally, he felt the plane start its descent and he breathed a sigh of relief. Hermione sat up and pressed her back into the seat. She reached out to grab the seat arms and ended up clamping onto his and Peggy's hands. "You're okay, darling," Peggy whispered.

"How come the Quinjet doesn't bother you like this?" Bucky asked.

"Because I'm usually the one flying it. I don't like flying when I'm not in control. So commercial flights, broomsticks where you have to trust someone else's magic, Thestrals and dragons have their own mind... it's just...ngh."

"Broomsticks, huh? I thought that was just a myth."

She shook her head as well as she could where she had it pressed into the seat. "Nope. There's even a line of deluxe vacuum cleaners that fly now."

"Really?"

"Yep. CEO of Electrolux happened to be a wizard. Marketed it for 'the discerning housewitch of the modern era' after the Secrecy ban collapsed."

"You're bullshitting me, aren't you?"

She grinned just as the wheels touched down. Two more children started screeching. Even Peggy sighed at that.

* . * . *

Avengers Tower was ugly.

Then again, Bucky thought most modern architecture was ugly so maybe he wasn't the best judge. The inside was nice looking and reminiscent of another Stark in its extravagance. They exited the elevator into a spacious living room and were greeted with a chorus of hellos. Stark was wearing a Santa hat. Next to him was a leggy strawberry-blonde with a happy smile on her face. Around the room were a few other people; Bucky recognized Barton and Romanoff.

"Oh, hey. Come in, come in. Just sit anywhere. Quick introductions, Pepper this is Captain America, his old flame, his new flame, and his right-hand man..." he went on to quickly say the names of the other people present but Bucky was feeling awkward. He almost wished he was attempting to juggle an obnoxiously large present or two but all the presents were in Hermione's nifty little bag. Instead, he just ratcheted his prosthetic at the elbow so he could sit down rather than tuck the claw into his pocket.

Stark noticed and his smile took on a manic look but before he could say anything, a giant silvery-blue dog ghost-thing came running into the room. It stopped in front of Hermione and spoke with Sirius's voice.

"I was going to spend the holiday with Harry and his in-laws but it turns out Molly and I still don't get along and it makes you and I look positively chummy. I also could have spent it with my cousin Andromeda but she's spending it with Ted's Muggle family and they still think I'm a criminal from that time I broke out of prison, so... can I spend Christmas with you? I mean, I'd send this to Bucky but he can't respond and I figure once I get to wherever you are, you can send me wherever he is..."

The dog finished rambling and then sat down, tilting his enormous head at an angle before fading away.

Hermione looked at Bucky and then at Stark. "Would it be too inconvenient to add another guest?"

Stark answered with a question, "What was that about prison?"

At the same time, Ms. Potts nodded her head and said, "We don't mind at all."

Hermione nodded, seeming to listen to Ms. Potts rather than Stark and conjured her own silver-blue animal. It was an otter and it danced around for a moment before she gave it a message telling Sirius where they were. After she sent her little ghost otter away she turned to Stark.

"Sirius was falsely imprisoned for twelve years in the eighties and early nineties. Though his name has been cleared since 1998 in the Wizarding World, the Muggle World never found that information newsworthy. His escape from the high-security prison was so shocking—no one had ever escaped from that particular prison before—that they put out a countrywide manhunt for him. It probably wouldn't be so bad if he were named John Smith or something but Sirius Black is pretty distinctive."

"You think I'm pretty?" Sirius asked, from the elevator. He chuckled as he walked into the room even as Hermione flicked her wand in his direction. He seemed to parry her attempt with his hand but there didn't seem to be much animosity in the interaction. He was dressed oddly like he'd stepped out of the past, though not the past Bucky was used to. He was wearing a burgundy coat over a black waistcoat and green shirt, and striped black-on-black trousers. His chin-length hair was tied back out of his face and he'd shaved his mustache. He looked happy. He was unfastening his vibrant green cloak with one hand and in the other, carrying a tall, square case.

He waved at Bucky and Peggy as Hermione introduced him around and then settled on the floor with his back against an unoccupied chair. He pointed at Potts and Stark. "Host and hostess, right?" he asked, then opened a drawer on the bottom of the box and reached in deeper than the compartment would normally allow. He pulled out a plant and a bottle. He passed both to them. The plant had beautiful copper-colored leaves on it.

"Is that a Niffler's Fancy?" Hermione asked, sounding a little awestruck.

"Yep."

"I've never seen one in person, they're so rare."

"Getting my name cleared and showing up alive meant I was allowed in the family vault again. Found some seeds in storage under stasis."

"Is this real copper?" Potts asked, lightly touching a leaf.

"No, but the leaves were once used as currency which contributed to them becoming so rare," Sirius said. He bit his lip like he was nervous.

"It's gorgeous, thank you," Potts said. She gave him a smile that seemed to ease his worry.

"The bottle's Ogden's Firewhiskey."

Stark's eyebrows rose a little. "Firewhiskey, huh? That sounds interesting."

"It's good," Bucky said in an endorsement.

Stark turned his attention back to Bucky. "Right, your present first because it's the coolest." He stood up and hefted a large red case up from beside his chair. He brought it over and laid it on Bucky's lap. Bucky eyed the red, flamboyant case for a moment before flipping the latch. Inside was something even more high tech than what the roboticist had shown him. Instead of just looking like the thin robotic arms he'd seen prototypes of, it actually looked like an arm with musculature and definition. This would be why Stark had asked for the upper body scan when they first started talking about it. "Wow. It's..." Bucky couldn't seem to find words.

"Well, it's heavy—I mean, if I had some I'd have made it out of vibranium but it is what it is. There are drawbacks to this sort of stuff, unfortunately. You'll need two surgeries to make it usable. One to reroute the nerves that were connected to your hand to your skin which will allow you to have sensory input and the other to reinforce your spine and ribs because to get it to look that good it had to be heavy."

Bucky felt his eyes go wide at that information.

"Is it permanent?" Peggy asked. She leaned over and laid her hand on his knee, ostensibly to balance herself and get a better look at the arm; Bucky was sure it was to reassure him as well.

Bruce Banner, one of the men around the room that had been introduced earlier answered, "Yes. Otherwise, the reinforcing on his spine will pull him lopsided." He turned his gaze on Bucky. "You'll also need to have a more focused exercise regimen to keep your core toned so you don't develop scoliosis."

Sirius cleared his throat and Stark turned to look at him. "Well, before you commit to all that, let me just give you my present. If you will." Stark closed the case and set it on the floor at Bucky's feet, then returned to his seat. Sirius looked at his case and pointed to the top of it. "That's right. To Bucky Carter—"

Steve, Peggy, and Hermione all snorted.

"What? She's not taking his name, he might as well go by hers, right?" he teased.

"I don't think so," Bucky said. "Here, I'll get you a pen. B-A-R—"

"I can spell it!"

"There's an E in there, you know."

Sirius laughed and opened the top of the case, pulling out a tall bottle. The top was shaped like a skull and the neck like a set of ribs. The label read, "Skelegro."

Hermione gasped. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Steve was the one to ask, "What's Skelegro?"

Sirius gestured to the bottle and Steve picked it up to read the fine print. "1100 drops. Bone Regenerator. Bone-fide results every time. Sold only by Reubens Winkius and Company."

"Well, if it was just the bone I was missing, that might be—"

"What do you think the rest of these potions are for?" Sirius asked, gesturing to the case where there were at least twenty little bottles tucked neatly into cubbies. "You'd already been seen by so many people back in the day that even if I could have got all the potions, you would have had a hell of a time explaining to people how you grew your arm back that it just wasn't feasible. Now though, with the Secrecy repeal, well."

Bucky swallowed and blinked. Magic could regrow his arm? "Why didn't the people who found me at the bottom of that ravine use that?"

"Aside from only being licensed to be brewed by the one company, it's a notoriously difficult potion to brew. They probably weren't very skilled at potions," Hermione said.

"Not to mention that one of the ingredients is werewolf saliva that has to be gathered on the night of the full moon, which made it a particularly difficult ingredient to obtain without being bitten or torturing the werewolf. It was made much more readily obtainable after the Wolfsbane Potion was invented. Remus and I bottled some up and selling it is what got me by after James and Lily went into hiding."

"Werewolf saliva?" Potts asked. Her eyes were wide too, like the topic of conversation was just too shocking to be believed. Bucky was still reeling. Magic could _regrow_ his arm.

"Yes," Hermione answered. "It's the regenerative properties since, under the full moon, a human inflicted with lycanthropy basically has their body torn apart and put back together in such a short span of time. It's pretty scary to witness."

Sirius shrugged. "Eh, you get used to it. Just makes your heart ache for your friend when the screaming starts. Speaking of werewolves, there has been a significant drop in new cases of lycanthropy since the war. I know they don't have a tally of who killed who, but I'd like to think that Remus got his due—" Hermione squirmed in her seat a little, "You? You killed Fenrir Greyback?"

"He was ravaging one of my former dormmates. I just wanted him to stop."

Sirius's expression turned curious. "Werewolves don't go down easy. D'you use the Killing Curse?"

Hermione had started to look uncomfortable. "I've never used the Killing Curse."

"Then you used a Dark spell, huh? Indulge me, which spell did you use?"

She shifted in her seat. "I thought you detested the Dark Arts."

He shrugged again, "I find them abhorrent but that didn't stop me from reading about them. I mean, did you see the books on the Dark Arts in my family's library?"

"The Thousand Shards of Silver," she murmured.

"Really? That was originally a torture spell, not meant to actually kill." He paused to take in the way the color had slipped from Hermione's face and added, "You didn't actually disengage the spell after you cast it, did you? Tell me, I've always been curious how that one manifests, did he look like a porcupine? Did his skin blister from the silver allergy?"

"Sirius!" Hermione said, sounding horrified and upset.

"Kitten, don't feel sorry for that sick bastard. He bit Remus when Remus was four. He preyed on children. He deserved to suffer and die."

She shook her head and jumped to her feet, muttered excuses and then left the room. Stark was looking a little confused and everyone else in the room also had varying degrees of distress on their face.

"Before things went all torture-y, did they just geek out about werewolves?" Stark asked.

Sirius dropped his head and sighed and then started to get up, "I'll go get her. Sorry, I—"

Bucky held out his hand and gestured for Sirius to sit back down. "I'll go talk to her. Get back to your present giving. I appreciate the... potions."

Sirius gave him a little smile and then looked around the room again, most likely wondering if he might have overstayed his welcome. Bucky stood and left the room. He needed a moment to himself anyway.

Regrow his _arm._ Jesus.

She hadn't gone far, just down the hall and into a room set up like a theatre. She was sitting on one of the chairs forcing her breathing to be steady. She didn't look up when he entered the room. He moved closer and set his hand on her arm. When he touched her, her breath choked off and she started speaking very fast like if she didn't get all the words out before her tears overcame her she would never be able to say them again. "I didn't... I didn't mean to torture anybody. I'm a horrible person, that's a horrible way to die, I shouldn't... I just wanted him to stop. I was too late anyway."

"Shh, you're okay. You can cry. There's no shame in that." She looked up at him with wide, wet eyes and he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "War sucks," he said. "Maybe not all of those people in there have been in a war but three of us have. We know. Sometimes you have to make choices and they may not be the best choices, but you did the best you could."

"I'm sorry I never even thought of Skelegro. Harry had to use it in Second year when a teacher vanished the bones in his arm after it was broken... I just never considered the obvious use of it."

"I'm still shocked that no one else mentioned it. I mean, how are amputees still a thing if magic can just regrow limbs."

"Well, the potions are expensive, taste horrible and the process is intensely painful. Plus, it's magic. Especially here in the States, there's a lot of people who are just anti-wizards and wouldn't take help from us even if it improves their quality of life," she said. He rubbed at her back and she leaned into him. He was glad getting her to talk had stopped her guilt spiral.

He kissed the top of her head and she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. He hugged her back. "I'm sorry he made you upset."

"I'm sorry I ruined Pepper and Tony's holiday party."

"You didn't. I'm sure it's all been brushed aside to continue with the gift giving. Do you think they'll like the presents we got them?"

"I hope so. I don't think anyone in there is anti-wizard so sweets and fun magical gifts shouldn't be a problem," she smiled up at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, is there a bathroom in here for you to wash your face?" he asked. She pulled out her wand and flicked it at herself. The redness in her eyes and the puffiness around them faded. She raised a brow. He nodded. "Back to looking picture perfect," he answered. She snorted in amusement and he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She froze for a second and then relaxed into it, returning the little kiss. And then, because he was still feeling a bit giddy. "Magic's going to regrow my arm."

She smiled brightly and then leaned up and kissed him. "It sure is. I'm sorry I didn't think of it."

They turned to head back to the main room and Bucky paused. "You don't think Stark's going to be upset that I didn't use his fancy metal one, do you?"

"If anything, he can be mad at Sirius for taking away his spotlight. I don't think he's as much of an egotist to begrudge you an actual flesh and blood arm."

Bucky nodded. When they returned Sirius hurried to apologize. "I'm sorry, Hermione," she nodded and he went on, "So, I don't know if you knew about the mirror that I gave Harry? You know, so we could talk to one another and that he didn't try to use until after I died. Anyway, I made a whole bunch of new ones. Because I know that there are some places that are too magical for cellphones." He reached into his case and pulled out two small compact mirrors that reminded Bucky of the makeup compacts that Peggy used. He handed one to Bucky as he regained his seat and then the other to Hermione where she came around and perched in Steve's lap. Steve smiled and kissed her head, wrapping his arm around her to keep her from falling off.

"So it works just like your other ones? We say the name of the person we want to talk to and they should hear it?"

"Yep. And they work for Muggles too, so everyone in here's got one."

She grinned, glanced at her wristwatch, and then held up her mirror. "Harry Potter."

Bucky could hear her friend answering it from across the room. "Do you know what time it is, Hermione?"

"Yes, I do." She giggled.

**Author's Note:**

> This did not want to be written. I struggled.


End file.
